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In order to attract and retain residents in the region’s urban communities, Metro Boston must ensure access to open space and a healthy urban environment.  Urban residents benefit greatly from access to a safe, well-maintained, and interconnected urban park system.  Good urban open spaces increase the quality of life for surrounding areas and the desirability of urban living in general.  A healthy urban environment and robust “green infrastructure” provides innumerable public benefits as residents breathe cleaner air, are more physically active, have access to more locally-grown food, are exposed to fewer pollutants, and experience less intense summer heat.  

The open space needs of urban residents are diverse, ranging from pocket parks and tot lots to athletic fields, greenways, community gardens, and urban wilds.  The demands and preferences for open space are also changing, due in part to growing immigrant populations that bring new concepts regarding the use and form of open space.  Connections between open spaces are also a critical element of the urban system; they create more access to larger areas for a wider variety of residents, and they improve the bicycle and pedestrian experience for people moving through the city.  

Creation and preservation of urban open space is often a challenge due to development pressures, especially in areas where the need is greatest (i.e., in areas where neighborhoods are most dense).  In these areas, open space needs might be met through better connections to nearby open spaces, and opportunistic development of publicly accessible open spaces on plazas, through set-asides, or on rooftops.  Other underserved neighborhoods have less development pressure and a larger supply of vacant land, due to past disinvestment.  In these areas, urban park stakeholders should identify networks and opportunities, acquire land, and adjust development controls in advance of future growth, in order to create a park system that precedes and helps to stimulate investment.  Innovative financing strategies such as linkage fees, betterments, or value capture tools can help to reduce direct costs to municipalities.  Increased real estate values that occur as a result of park-adjacent development may in fact yield a financial benefit to municipalities.

17)    Coordinate urban park planning, development, administration and regional connections

18)    Leverage partnerships and private funding to improve maintenance of urban parks

19)    Increase the urban tree canopy

20)    Expand urban farms and community gardens

21)    Protect and restore urban wilds, waterways, and urban ecology